Watch stem trimming apparatus



July 4, 1950 Filed June 27, 1946 W. E. FRISK WATCH STEM TRIMMING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 4, 1950 w. E. FRISK 2,513,635

WATCH STEM TRIMMING APPARATUS Filqd June 2 7, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 4; '1950 w. E. FRISK 2,513,635

WATCH STEM TRIMMING APPARATUS Filed Jtine 27, 1946" 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 4, 1950 y w. E. FRISK 2,513,635

WATCH STEM TRIMMING APPARATUS Filed June 27, 1946 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 4, 1950 WATCH STEM TRIMMING APPARATUS Walter E. Frisk, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Montgomery Ward & 00., Incorporated, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 27, 1946, Serial No. 679,816

Watches are usually made on a large scale by manufacturers of watch-works which are sold to the manufacturers of the completed watches, who frequently either make their cases or buy them from watch-case manufacturers. The man- 5 Claims. (01. 51-98) until it has exactly the desired ufacturers of the works usually provide the watches with winding and setting stems which are of a greater length than is desired in the ultimate watch, this being done in order to enable the necessary adjustment to be made by the actual producers of the finished watch. There must be the proper spacing of the winding wheel or crown on the stem so as to allow the proper clearance between the crown and case, and also to allow for two different positions, one with the stem pushed all the way in for winding the watch, and another with the stem partly pulled out, in order to set the Watch. Proper and uniform spacing is also desirable from an appearance standpoint.

, The winding and setting wheel or crown is usually attached to the stem by being threaded thereon. It is necessary that the crown be rather firmly screwed'onto the threads at the end of the stem so that it willnot readily become unscrewed when setting the hands either ahead or back.

Most watches are so made that a clockwise movement of the stem will wind the watch, while on the return movement a pawl and ratchet within the watch allows the stem to be turned counterclockwise without imparting any movement to the internal portions of the works of the watch. In setting, however, it is'often desirable that the hands be moved either forward or back. If the crown or winding wheel were not firmly screwed upon the threads on the stem, then it would be prone to become unscrewed and possibly dropped or lost.

It has formerly been the practice of watch assemblers to take the works as received from the works manufacturer, remove the stem from the works, unscrew the crown, and then by means of a nipper and a' file, emery wheel, or other abrasiveimplement, to abrade the end of the stem length, whereafter the crown was screwed back on to the thus shortened stem. Self evidently, this required great care which, particularly in the case'of small wrist watches, such as ladies watches, necessitated the use of a magnifying glass or other '00- cular aid, and was very trying work.

Under modern conditions of mass production such slow work is of course intolerable, as it adds too much to the cost of the watch.

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a machine which can be manipulated by relatively inexperienced operators, but which will nevertheless, with a great degree of accuracy, shorten watch stems so that they will accurately fit any particular selected case.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine which will receive a watch works, and whereby, with great facility and accuracy, the winding and setting wheel or crown may be unscrewed from the stem thereof and stored temporarily, the stem trimmed or ground off to the exact length desired, and the crown then screwed back on the stem to an exact predetermined position.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from a further description of the apparatus involved which is illustrated in a plurality of sheets of drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View from above and to one side looking at what amounts to the left hand side of the machine when in use;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the machine viewed from the lower right hand cornerthereof, showing the position of the parts of the machine when the latter is performing the stem-trimming operation;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a portion of the machine showing the position of the partsjust immediately prior to the trimming of the stem;

Fig. 5 is a section along the line 55 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a section along the line 66 of Fig. 1 with some of the parts broken away'to expose underlying details, and

Fig. '7 is an elevational view of a portion of the machine, showing particularly the means for actuating the motor illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The machine comprises a suitable base upon which are mounted a number of interacting instrumentalities which may be broadly designated as a travelling carriage for holding the watch works to be acted upon. Said carriage is proited by certain adjusting screws fastened to thebase. Cooperating with the carriage are means for embracing and unscrewing the winding and setting wheel or crown, and for holding the same during the stem-cutting operation. The latter operation is performed by a; motor-driven: abrasive element.

The motor and its abrasive element are accurately adjustable relative to the other portions of the apparatus, so as to insure the cutting oil of exactly the right amount of the protruding watch stem. The abrasive wheel, moreover, is surrounded by'a stationary housing provided with alsuitable slotfor the entry andexit of the watch stem which is to be trimmed, the saidv housing alsohavinga small exhaust fan and exhausttube through which metallic particles which are ground oif the-end of the watch stem are blown to a suitable point remote from the apparatus so asto: preclude, the possibility of small metallic particles.getting intothe works which are on the carriage.

The device, moreover, is also provided with a temporary cover soas to keep dirt and other mateniakfrom getting into-theworks during the operation.

7 The, base is also provided with a microswitch which; is in: series: with the main switchof themotor and which is so oriented that the motor will; not be. actuated whenever the carriage has madecontact to closethe microswitch, and which will shut the motor off assoon as the-carriage has carried the work out of: operative relation with the; abrasive element.

Indesoribing; the-exact details of the apparatus in connection with the drawings, it is to 'beyunderstood that this descritpion is purely for purposes of exemplifying the broad principles of the invention, which is notlimited to theprecise constructional details shown, but rather is to be construedl in: the light of the hereunto appended claims. I

The; device inits broader aspects can best be understood by a perusal of; Figs. 1, 2 and: 3-.

Thus, upon a suitable-preferably heavy metallic base plate l0, there are mounted two exactly parallel metallic guide-rails H: and t2, which-are fastened to the base; plate Ill by a plurality. of countersunk screws; I 3. Slidable withinthe space pllqvided by the: parallel rails-v H and 1. 2 is, a heavymetallic mounting carriage M which is provided at its upper side with a watch-mounting arr-holding platform I 5. which lies partlywithin a: suitable depression, 16;. and which platform is capablceof accurate adjustment H113; vertical position by being made, integral with, or attached? to a 'suitablescrewif! which is threaded into a suitable: threaded opening" it within the mounting block or carriage M. The edge of the platform t5, which-is,-.circular, is' knurled: so that it may be manually rotatedand? thus adjusted vertically so as: accurately to determinethe position of the watchlrelativetothe base Ill, thatis to say, the distanceefnomg the base to thestem-of the; Watch. After.- this distance hasbeenproperly determined, the: screw Ill can be, kept from movement by means'of the locking: screw l-9 'which: is provided with the knurled operating wheel 20. The watch moreover is kept from lateral movement by lying partly within a suitably shaped depression 2| within a plate 22 which is attached to the top of the carriage It by means of screws 23. The watch works which are usually supplied by the manufacturer in a, cheap metallic half-housing 2d; is placed within the opening: 221, thus lying directly upon the aforementioned adjustable platform IS. The tem 25 of the watch extends beyond the inside vertical surface of the mounting carriage M between jaws 26 and 21 of a, suitable vise, one jaw 21 of which is permanently afiixed to the carriage I4 by means of screws 28 and 29. The other jaw 26 of the vise is pivotally mountedon the carriage M by means of the screw 30. which acts as a fulcrum about which the jaw may move.

The jaws 26 and '21 of the vise, which are sharpened down at their adjacent ends to narrowedges, arefurtherprovided with semicircular; notches: 3t and-v 32. (Fig; 5), respectively, which are of such adimension that when. thevisa is in: the closed position, the watch stem.

will be firmly held against movement in the cir.- cular opening provided by the meeting of the semicircularopenings3l and. 32. The jaw 2,5..of the vise is moreover urged intoopen position by. meansof: a tension spring 33, one endof whichis affixed to a pin which is securedto andwhioh. projects from the carriage [4, while the other end of the spring is attached: to a suitable pin 35 carried-by the outer end of said jaw.

The means for elevating. the outer endiof jaw. 26 so as to close; the vise, consist of a suitable, cam 35 which is:actu,ated by, means of a Shaft3't which traverses carriage Handto which, is.attached a suitable handle 38. By. a, rotational movement of the shafts] and the thereto. con. nectedcam, 36v the outerend oftjaw. 26. may be raised or' lowered so as to cause said. jaw. either to-engage-ordisengage the watch stem-25., Suit able St0ps;39" are provided on. the shaft 3 asfor. example by extending from an enlarged collar 40 thereon, thestops 39. being limited in their movement by. abutting. against a suitable abut-. ment 4|.

A- cover 42-, swingableupona hinge andpror. vided with a handle M, is provided for tempo,- rarily covering the watch works 45 during the operation. The extent: of travel of thecarriage M in: either direction: i controlled by. means of the stop screws M and, at the opposite. ends of the base (-0, said, screws being'pr-ovided with lock nuts 41' and. 48" respectively, the screws being' threaded intolposts lll and.- 50 respectively on the base plate.

Means, broadly designated by the reference numeral 54, are provided for unscrewing, and holdingv the winding wheel or crown 5.2; (-see Figs. 1 and 6,), these means consisting; ofa. post 53 upon which there is pivotally: mounted at, Sta tubularmember 53'. in. which is slidably mounted a rod E l-which may be lockedin position by-screw 54,. Suitably fixed: to; rod 54-; is. a transversely disposedsleeve 55in which there: is slidablymovable a crown-clamping chuck 56, the internal construction generally of which canabest be; seen from the partial sectional showing in Big: 6. This device; consists of a plurality. of clamping fingers 5-1 which are capable of being radially spread apart under the influence ofa push-rod 58. which is pmvided with a knurled operating knob 59, the rod: 58. being threaded: into, the interior of atube 60, so, that: the: amount of space between the finger 51 can be controlled. This type of chuck wrench is well known and is widely used in the machine industry, for unscrewing and screwing small nuts and bolts and in effect is a sort of automatic clamping wrench. In any event, this chuck wrench is slidable in the sleeve 55 and is so constructed that the device may be caused to spread its fingers 51 as to embrace the outer knurled edge of the crown 52, whereafter, with the stem being held by the vise jaws 26 and 21, the crown can be unscrewed from the stem 25 by a counter-clockwise movement of the chuck wrench until it has been completely disengaged from the stem 25. The end of the chuck wrench is then partly withdrawninto the sleeve'55 so as to keep the crown in readiness for re-attachment after the further operations about to be described.

The crown having been removed, the member 53' is swung back about its pivot 6| and laid down upon a suitable resilient stop 62 as seen in Fig. 3. Thereafter the carriage, with the watch thereon and with the stem 25 extending therefrom, is ready for the next operation, which is performed by the trimming instrumentality, which latter is constituted as follows:

A suitable sub-base 65 is mounted upon and rigidly secured to the base [0, and mounted for slidable adjustment thereon is a platform 66, the position of which can be accurately adjusted by means of a handle 61 operatively connected to said platform and said sub-base 65, so that by rotating said handle the platform may be slidably adjusted. Suitable markings 19 which are graduated so as to indicate the extent of travel of the platform 66 relative to the base 65 are provided so that, for example, each division will correspond to a longitudinal movement of the platform of one one-thousandth of an inch.

Mounted on and rigidly secured to the platform 66 is a suitable electric motor H provided with an electric cable 12 which is connected with a suitable source of electric current. The motor has attached to it, for example by means of the chuck 13, a small longitudinally extending shaft 14 upon the end of which is mounted, in the order named, (Fig. 4), a small fan lhaving a plurality of blades 16, and an abrasive wheel 11. Surrounding the fan and the abrasive wheel 11 is a housing 80 which does not partake of the movement of the motor and shaft but which is held in proper alignment therewith by means of the standard 8| which is secured by means of the screws 82 to the base Ill. The casing 89 moreover has an outlet nipple 84 to which may be attached a suitable tube 85, through which particles abraded from the stem 25 may be discharged to a suitable point remote from the apparatus. The housing 80 is provided with an anterior substantially circular closure 86 which is provided with a radial slot 81 through which the watch stem 25 may freely pass. The said closure 86 is moreover secured to the housing 80 by means of the screw 88 about which it is swingable so that the interior of the housing 80 may be made accessible for the purpose of replacing the grinding wheel or disc 11.

The carriage l4, when it is slid to the left (in Figs. 1, 2 and 4) or to the right (as shown in Fig. 3) serves to actuate a suitable electric switch 90 which lies within a suitable opening 9| cut in the base 10, the said switch however having a.

6, by Fig. 7, will serve to depress the button 92' to close the switch, and thereby to actuate the motor. The motor, however, is also provided with a separate control switch 93, which can best be seen in Fig. 3, and which serves entirely to cut off the motor when it is not in use. Ordinarily, however, the main control switch 93 is in the on position.

Whenever the carriage II with the watch works 45 thereon is slid into the position shown in Fig. 3, the motor will be in operation and hence the grinding wheel [1 will be spinning. The watch stem 25 will thus be brought'into engagement with the wheel 11 which will cut and abrade it down so that its end will be in absolute contact with the abrasive side of said wheel. Inasmuch as the position of this wheel relative to the carriage I4 can be very accurately determined by means of the adjusting handle 61, the amount which is cut from the stem 25 may be consequently very accurately controlled, the entire operation requiring only about a second or so. Once this has been accomplished, the carriage is moved back to its first initial position, that is, to the left, as seen in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, and to the right as shown in Fig. 1, until the carriage [4 again abuts against the end of the stop screw 41, thereby again bringing the watch stem into its original position relative to the base. Thereafter the crown 52, which in the meantime has reposed within the jaws of the chuck wrench 56, is ready to be screwed back on to the now shortened stem.

However, in order to prevent the crown 52 from being screwed too far on to the stem 25, there is provided a gauge I00 (best seen in Fig. 5) which has a bifurcated end llil. This gauge isrotatable about the pivot I02 being urged into an upright position by means of a spring I03. However, the gauge can be manually swung so that it will embrace the stem 25 between the two bifurcations of the end llll, being held in place by the finger of the operator, whereafter the crown 52, which is still being held by the jaws of the chuck wrench 56, is screwed back by a clockwise movement on to the end of the stem 25, the extent to which it can be so screwed, however, being limited by its contact with the end l0! of the gauge l 00. Said gauge thus serves as a means of properly spacing the crown with respect to the watch casing, so that the position of all of the crowns of the watches operated upon will be uniform. As soon as the crown is tight, a proper pushing movement on the end of the chuck wrench will cause the latter to disengage the crown, whereafter the wrench is pulled back and the gauge I00 is allowed to snap back into vertical position. The watch works may then be removed by opening the vise jaws 26 and 21, swinging back the cover 44, and lifting the works from the machine, whereafter a new one is substituted, and the entire operation is repeated.

In order further to assure the proper axial alignment of the crown and the chuck wrench 56, there is provided a stop I04 which is carried by the carriage M and against which, when the latter is in its Original or starting position, the side of the chuck wrench carrier tube 53 abuts (see Figs. 1 and 6).

It is believed that from the above description the operation of the device is substantially self evident, but may be recapitulated for sake of preciseness as follows:

The watch works, having been placed upon the already described platform 15, the cover 42 is swung to position to enclose the same, wherethe watch mounted thereon, is then moved to the-extreme opposite position so as to cause the stem to be cut off by the accurately adjusted grinding wheel 11. The carriage is then returned to; the original position, thespacing. gauge lOl swung; into; operative position, and the crown screwedback on ,to the stem,whereafter the gauge is; swung; back into a. vertical position, the. Vise jaws 25 and 27- released, and the works, removed from the. carriage. 7

It; is of; course obvious that the exact. means for-actuating. the movableportions of the vise is: subject; to considerable mechanical. equivalents Moreover,the means forunscrewin the wheel-maybe omitted as the wheel couldbe conceivably unscrewed by hand and laid upon the base, and-then put on again by hand, which, however; is a rather awlrward and time consuming operation; particularly with very small watches.

Thevarious stepsprovided to limit the movement ofthe carriage may, or course, take differ entforms, andthe means for adjusting the grinding wheel may be different than those shown, provided only that its accurate adjustment relative to the watch stem can. be accomplished: If desired, and mainly in order to keep the slideway between the rails H and I2 clean, the carriage l4 may be provided with suitable felt strips. H0. which are secured tothe carriage M by means of holding strips HI secured to the carriage by screws H2. This will prevent dirt or metallic particles from falling into: the slideway and possibly interferring'with the free movement of. the carriage or with the operation of the switch button 92.

Saving for himself the use of such equivalents as will readily occur to those who are skilled in the art into which the present invention falls, applicant claims:

1. Apparatus for diminishing the length of a crowned watch-works stem which comprises a rigid base, a reciprecator carriage, vertically adjustable watcheworksesupporting means on said-carriage; vise-means secured to said carriage for engaging a watch-works stem and preventing its rotation, stops limiting the reciprocatory travel of said carriage in a motor-base secured to said rigid base, a motor-support adjustably mounted onfsaid motion-base, a, motor rigidly,

mounted on said support, an, abrasive Wheel.

mounted on the shaft, of said motor in aposition to intercept said watch=works sternwhen sup: ported on said carriage, and. means. associated with said wheelfor removingcuttings, to a p int of disposal.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, when provided with an electrical switch for operating the motor, said switchbeing in the path ofsaid carriage and actuatedbycontact therewith.

3 In an apparatus for trimming, crowned watch-works stems, the combination of means for supportingthe works in a predetermined position, means forclamping the stem thereof against rotation, meansfor unscrewing thecrown from said stem, means for diminishingthe length of the stem, gauge means capable of partly sur rounding said stem, and means ,forre-screwing the crown onto the stem, the extent of said re-screwingbeinglimited by said gauge means.- i. In an apparatus for trimming crowned watch-works stems, thecombination oi. a watchwcrks supporting carriage, and a stem-engaging gauge limiting the extent to which a crown can be threaded onto the stem of a watch-works supported on said carriage; said. gauge beingmovably mounted on said carriage so as to permit of movement into and out of operativerposition. 5. The combination as claimed in claim 4, in which thegauge is spring-biased into inoperative position.

WALTER E. FRISK.

REFERENCES crrnn The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

UN TED. S A E$ A'I'E GreatBritain. July 10, 1 930 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,513,635 July 4, 1950 WALTER E. FRISK It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 3, line 37, for the Word not read only line 44, for descritpion read description and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office. Signed and sealed this 3rd day of October, A. D. 1950.

[sur] THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assisiapt Commissioner of Patents. 

